


And Believe Me That's What All The Kids Are Doing

by thecoloursinthegravel



Series: The Preposterous Notion Of Falling In Love [1]
Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: 5 times + 1, Five Times Plus One, M/M, Phone Calls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-04
Updated: 2016-06-04
Packaged: 2018-07-12 06:39:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7089301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecoloursinthegravel/pseuds/thecoloursinthegravel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The five times Tyler picked up and the one time he didn’t.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And Believe Me That's What All The Kids Are Doing

1.

“Tyler! You’re up!”

“What? What? Why? Why are you calling me? It’s 2am. Why have you done this?” his voice was groggy through the phone and Josh could picture the pained expression on his face as he looked at the clock beside his bed.

“Oh, sorry man, but it’s important! Really important.”

“How important?” Tyler’s voice turned serious, “You’re okay aren’t you? Josh do you nee-“

“Yeah, yeah I’m good! Great actually! Been out on the town with Brendonald and-“

“What did you just call him?”

“Never mind, anyways been hitting the streets-“

“Josh.”

“Okay, I went to the pub with Brendon-“

“There you go.”

“-And we had a couple drinks - and before you ask I am stone cold sober! Sort of. Well, I’m fine. And we got to talking and the time just fleeewww by.”

“Hm. Did it now?”

“Yeah, anyway bro, just called you to tell you something very important.”

“Okay? What is it Josh?”

“I love you, Tyler.”

Tyler let out a chuckle on the other end, “I love you too, Josh. You’re my best friend. Now go to sleep!”

“I mean it.”

“I mean it too, Josh. Now get some rest, I’ll come get you in the morning and we can have pancakes or something, sound like a plan?”

“But- Yeah. Yeah sounds like a plan. I love pancakes.” _I love you._

“Good! And I know you do, buddy, that’s why we’re best friends. Goodnight, Josh.”

“G’night, Tyler. Love you.”

Josh could hear the amused expression on Tyler’s lips as he said “Love you too, man.”

 

 

 

2.

“Josh, Josh you need to slow down, I can’t hear you. It’s okay Josh, it’s okay, I’m coming.”

“Okay, okay, okay, okay-“

“Josh? It’s gonna be fine. I promise. I’m coming.”

Josh breathed in, in, out and listened to Tyler’s voice; eyes fixed on the ground in front of him as he tried to slow his heartbeat.

“Thank-thanks. Thank you.”

Tyler’s soft voice resonated past his smiling lips into Josh’s ear, “You’re welcome, Josh. Keep breathing, okay man? I’m nearly there.”

Josh placed a trembling hand on his chest and counted all the times Tyler’s smile had made his heart jump in the last week. There were too many.  

 

 

 

3.

“Yo, bro.”

“I don’t think you pull that off.”

“I’m just trying to live my life and you call me up out of nowhere, insulting me, I am _appalled_ and _offended_ and-“

“Dude, stop acting like you’re mad, I know you can’t be mad at me when I’ve got legs this fine and cheekbones this great.”

“Josh, _please_ , it’s your dazzling sense of modesty I like the best. And no, Jenna, I will not stop flirting with Josh.”

“That too. Now listen, ‘cause I’m about to blow your mind.”

“’K ‘k brah, I’m listening.”

“This Saturday- that is so much worse, by the way- this Saturday, Brendon’s hotel room, ring of fire, vodka to make you gay, beer to make me seem cool. Sound good?”

“More like vodka to make you gay and beer to give you a fighting chance of playing it off, _bro_.”

“That’s rude. But fair. So are you in or not? C’mon Tyler, I’ll be so lonely without you,” Josh pouted through the phone.

“Alright, precious, I’ll be there.”

“What was that? That was awful, Tyler. I’m upset now.”

“What’s the matter, sweetums?”

“You’re not invited anymore.”

“Honeybun, please.”

“I’m quitting the band.”

“Sugar-“

“This is my letter of resignation.”

“Babycakes, you’d never leave me this way.”

“This is horrible. This is honestly the worst thing in the whole world.”

“See you Saturday, sexypants.”

“Tyler, I’m seeing you tonight.”

“Doesn’t sound as mysterious and sexy Josh, _god_.”

 

 

 

4.

“About last night-“

“No Josh, really, it’s okay.”

“Yeah I know, you said, but I feel really bad about it and kinda weird.”

“Josh, I told you-“

“I know.”

“-I told you it was fine. You were drunk. Stuff happens. It’s okay.”

“I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

There was silence on the other end of the line as Josh chewed on his bottom lip.

Finally, Tyler spoke, “Yeah, and I’m really not that ‘no homo’ that I can’t get over a simple kiss. It didn’t mean anything dude, we’re cool. Now can you stop fussing like we had a quickie is the closet and you didn’t call me the next day when you promised you would and let it go?”

“Okay… Sor-“

“I swear to god.”

“Don’t yell at me, but I still feel bad. I just want to explain myself, then I’ll shut up, okay?”

“Okay,” Tyler sounded apprehensive, but kept quiet so Josh could continue.

“Now, I was drunk. We all know that. And that was sort of messing with my head, you know? Yeah, ‘course you do, you’ve been drunk before… Anyway my head was just in a weird place and you were laughing and you kept looking me in the eyes- not that I’m saying it’s your fault! It’s not, of course! I, I don’t mean that. But yeah, right, well, and you have the most gorgeous eyes, dude, well done on those, and then I was just sort of looking at you, you know, quite a lot. Um, just because, you know, well it’s not really a secret you’re a very attractive man, er, so I guess my brain sort of detached you, as in, Tyler my best friend, from the person standing in front of me which my brain was now seeing as ‘hot dude with very kissable lips’. And I know that sounds weird but, we’re best friends, it’s cool that I say that, right? Like, we’re too close for that to be weird? Like you said, we’re not that ‘no homo’. But yeah, sorry, um, so yeah basically I was just looking at you and you were there and you have very nice eyes and a very nice face, congrats man, and my brain was just sort of going on about how I should kiss you. Just because… well, you know, I just really fucking wanted to. In that moment. And. Um. So, well, I did. You just, you just looked really good, _look_ really good in a plaid shirt. So, yeah. Um then when I did it my brain sort of stopped being a dick and was then sort of screaming at me like ‘woah, that’s Tyler dude! What are you doing!’. Um, yeah. And I’ve just regretted it ever since because it wasn’t cool of me to do that and yeah. So, that’s that then. Hope we’re cool dude. Sorry, had to get that off my chest.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, um, nice to know I have very kissable lips.”

“Oh shut up.”

Tyler was laughing through the phone, “Man, that was the biggest ego boost ever, thank you.”

Josh was smiling now, stifling laughter, “Yeah well my standards lower when I’m drunk so…”

Tyler adopted a mock offended tone, “Rude!”

“But are we seriously cool now?”

“Josh, I said I was cool the seventeenth time you apologised, you really need to listen more.”

 

 

 

5.

“Hey.”

“Tyler.”

“Yup?”

“Guess what?”

“What?”

“I’m not too sure actually I just kinda wanted to start a conversation and I couldn’t think of a way of starting a conversation that was really cool so I did that and I was kinda hoping I’d have something to say by the end of it but it turns out I don’t and-“

“Dude, dude, please stop, please, you haven’t breathed yet and I am- I am in physical pain from laughing right now.”

Josh could hear the shaky, breathless laughter coming out of Tyler and for a moment his chest clenched with a familiar warmth and the butterflies in his stomach started fluttering. The most beautiful sound. He wanted to hear it again.

“Yeah sorry man it’s just you know I thought what a good idea I can give Tyler a good ‘ole time with a bit of fun info to start his day but it just didn’t work out like that man, I don’t know what to tell you, I was thinking ‘hey maybe I’ll remember some hot gossip, you know, something spicy-‘“

“No, honestly, you have to- you have to stop I’m- I cannot- I can’t- Spicy?!” Laughter burst out of Tyler and it was the most beautiful, magical, happy happy, blissful sound Josh had ever heard. The smile on Josh’s face spread until his cheeks were hurting and he was laughing himself. God, he was so in love.

“Okay, okay. You good? You need a moment?”

“I’m- ha!- I’m fine. Yeah, yeah I’m good.” The sound of Tyler’s stray chuckles made Josh’s heart skip a beat and his stomach tie in knots and oh what a cliché he was becoming but he didn’t care. That man. That man was worth living through every cliché in the world.

“So… you don’t have any exciting news do you?”

“Do you mean spicy news?” And he was off again in a fit of giggles. Soon enough Josh joined him and there they were, just laughing through the phone together.

“I love you, Tyler.”

“I love you too, man.”

“I know you do.” And Josh’s smile was genuine, and it didn’t hurt nearly as much as it normally did to hear him say it and not mean it the way Josh did.

He was happy. And it felt so good.

 

 

 

 

1.

“Tyler, come on dude it’s been an hour, where are you? Call me when you get this.”

Four thirty. They were supposed to meet at four thirty. How had he forgotten? Josh had checked with him. He’d texted him to remind him, he-

He was worried about him.

“Tyler, hey I know I just left a message but you still haven’t picked up. Where are you? I won’t be mad, just please pick up or call me back or something.”

 

~~-~~

 

“A hit and run.”

“Yes, sir.”

“He’s dead.”

Tears were falling silently down Josh’s face, his jaw was clenched and he was staring at nothing.

There was silence.

“I’m so sorry, sir.” The policeman looked solemnly at him before turning to walk away, “I’ll give you some space.”

Josh waited for the man to get far enough away that he was out of earshot before collapsing to his knees and curling in on himself. He coughed up spit, and shook as he sobbed desperately into the gravel.

His hands dug into the sharp texture of the ground and red cuts began to form at his fingertips as he grasped at the stones beneath him; trying to find some stability from something, _anything_.

His lungs had the weight of a thousand bricks, each one sharp and jagged and not at all welcome. His breath was heavy and uneven, coming out in jagged gasps for air in between relentless sobs.  Josh’s eyes stung from tears and his head pounded, his chest ached and his heart hurt so much he thought he was going to die. Josh thought if this didn’t stop that he was going to die.

His head was spinning and one word circled his mind again and again:

_Tyler_.

He wanted him, he needed him so badly in this moment. In this moment Josh would have done anything to have Tyler here because he needed him right now, this was the worst he’d ever been and he needed Tyler. _Where was Tyler?_

Josh knew where Tyler was and every time he thought it, he felt like he’d had the wind knocked out of him.

Josh choked on sobs and felt like he was going to throw up. He couldn’t breathe. _See, I knew it, I knew it, I knew I couldn’t breathe without him. I knew I couldn’t breathe without you, Tyler. I should have told you Tyler, I should have told you I couldn’t breathe._

“I’m so sorry, Tyler.” Josh whispered in between unsettled breaths and the still steady flow of hot tears down his scratched face. His body was shaking and he felt weak and numb through his bones. His head was screaming and he couldn’t see anything but Tyler, lying there, Tyler, being taken away, Tyler, Tyler, Tyler.

 

 

 

 

Tyler.

 

 

 

                  

**Author's Note:**

> Title: "Fake You Out" by Twenty One Pilots


End file.
